Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
He sat across from me, glancing down at the beer in my hand and the way I made myself comfortable in their house. “He’s busy. He’ll call you when he’s ready.”
“It’s been a week.”
“And he’s been busy.”
“Then perhaps I should return to screwing his wife until he’s ready to uphold his end of the deal?”
He blinked, and that was enough to show his hand. He had no idea what I spoke of, and he wished he hadn’t heard it. He left the booth once again and returned to whoever was in charge while Bolton was away.
I drank my beer and waited.
A couple minutes later, he returned with a phone in hand. He set it on the table in front of me, the screen lit up with the duration of the call on display. He gestured to the phone before he walked away.
I watched him go before I put the phone to my ear. “What’s the holdup, Bolton?”
There was a pause, like he didn’t appreciate my lack of respect. “I’m busy right now, Theo.”
“That’s not my problem. If you aren’t going to be a man of your word, then perhaps I won’t be a man of mine.” Perhaps I would return to Astrid and tell her the truth, that her husband had twisted my arm and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. There would be no long-term future for the two of us, but we could have whatever time she had to give.
He was quiet for a while. “You burned that bridge to ash, Theo.”
Astrid’s face came to mind, thinking of the way I’d walked out of her hotel with her back turned to me. I didn’t like the way it had ended, and I would give anything to correct it. I felt responsible for her happiness, even though I wasn’t responsible for anyone but myself. “I could enlighten her about the circumstances.”
“I don’t think it’d make a difference at this point.”
I stared across the bar as a tightness started in my chest. What did he say to her?
“I’m putting my marriage back together right now, Theo. When I’m done, I’ll keep my word to you.”
She took him back? After everything he did to her?
Click. Bolton hung up.
I sat at a table in the bar, on my second drink before my guest even arrived. It was a cold night, the rain pouring down on and off as it often did in places like Paris in the spring. Headlights were visible when cars pulled onto the street. Few people were in the bar, most of them discussing business and private affairs in their corners.
I lit up a cigar so I could replace the booze with smoke and the smoke with booze. I constantly needed something, especially now when I felt like I had nothing.
Axel entered the establishment a moment later dressed in black, and he stopped by the bar to get a drink before he joined me at the table. His black wedding band contrasted against the fair skin of his left hand. Ever since he’d put it on, he hadn’t taken it off as far as I could tell.
He sat across from me and eyed the cigars on the tray in front of me but didn’t take one. Then he surveyed me, his eyes combing over my appearance like he saw invisible scars and bruises no one else could see. “What happened?”
I puffed the smoke out of my mouth. “A bunch of bullshit.”
He gave a slow nod. “I thought you looked like shit.”
I was tired from being overworked, and I slept like shit when I was supposed to rest. Bolton’s words disturbed me. I’d walked away from Astrid in the hope that she would forget about Bolton and move on with her life. Find a nice guy who worked in an office and was home every night by five, a guy who wouldn’t believe his luck that he’d landed a woman like her. “She went back to him.”
His eyebrow cocked slightly. “Bolton?”
“Yes.”
“Why the fuck would she do that?”
I sucked on the cigar and let the smoke fill my mouth for a second before I puffed it out again. “I don’t fucking know.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Seemed like something was there.”
“There was…but I ended things.”
Now both of his eyebrows were cocked. “What the fuck, man?”
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Bolton said he would give me the name if I broke it off with her.”
“Who put the hit on Killian?” he asked.
I nodded. “And said he would help me handle it.”
Axel gave a long sigh. “And you believed him?”
“He knows what will happen if he crosses me.”
“He already crossed you, Theo,” he snapped. “You’re already trying to kill each other.”
“It’s done, Axel.”
He shook his head. “Theo, Killian is dead. Been dead awhile now. You need to focus on the life you still have. Whether his bones rest in the cemetery or the bottom of the ocean doesn’t change the fact that he’s not coming back.”